PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The civil re-trial for three Pittsburgh Police officers accused of using excessive force against a former CAPA student continued Monday.

Today, Jordan Miles was back on the stand for cross-examination.

The cross examination of Jordan Miles has ended but it was marked by frequent combative exchanges between defense attorneys and Miles’ own attorney.

Defense attorney James Wymard questioned him extensively about whether or not he had a bottle of Mountain Dew in his pocket the night of the arrest.

Wymard: You had a bottle of Mountain Dew in your pocket didn’t you?

Miles: No sir.

Wymard: Didn’t you tell your friend Ryan Allen that you had a Mountain Dew bottle and the police mistook it for a gun?

Miles: No sir. He told investigators first that I told him I had no pop bottle. But as the FBI kept contacting him, he said he told them I did have a bottle so that would cancel out his testimony, so that he would no longer be a party to this case. He was tired of the FBI agents questioning him.

Wymard went on to show the jury shirtless pictures of Miles that were posted on his MySpace page as a high school student, showing off his physique.

Wymard: Isn’t that how you portrayed yourself on the Internet then?

Miles: Yes, sir.

Wymard: Isn’t that the way you wanted to portray yourself to the police that night in 2010 as a strong muscular guy?

Miles: That had nothing to do with that night.

Last week on the stand, Miles described the events of the January 2010 incident in question in this case.

In dramatic testimony, Miles said he, “thought I was going to be put inside the car, taken away and murdered somewhere.”

“I began to pray. One man said shut up and choked me until I couldn’t breathe and pushed my head into the snow,” Miles said on the stand.

The defense claims Miles was targeted because he was a young African American man in a high crime area.

The plaintiffs rested their case Monday afternoon.

The defense has begun its case. Attorney Robert Leight, who represents Officer Richard Ewing, deferred his opening statement until now.

“This case is not about guns, it’s not about race, it’s not about racial profiling. It’s not even about Jordan Miles. It’s about what an officer should reasonably have done on Jan. 12, 2010,” Leight told the jury.

Harold Hayes joined KDKA-TV in August of 1979 as a general assignment reporter and has covered everything from military operations in the Middle East to landmark local court cases.
His overseas coverage includes Operation Desert Shield in Saudi...